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NEW YORK -- One year later, the New York Mets finally landed All-Star outfielder Jay Bruce to boost a struggling lineup. And now, hell provide protection for Yoenis Cespedes rather than an alternative to him.Minutes before Mondays trade deadline, the third-place Mets obtained Bruce from the Cincinnati Reds for young infielder Dilson Herrera and minor league left-hander Max Wotell.The 29-year-old Bruce, expected to arrive Tuesday, was hitting .265 with 25 homers and a National League-leading 80 RBI. He made the NL All-Star team this season for the third time.This was an opportunity to deal from a position of relative strength in the system to acquire some offense that we felt we needed, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said.New York also pursued All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy, traded by Milwaukee to Texas instead. But the Mets did complete an additional deal, reacquiring left-hander Jon Niese from Pittsburgh for reliever Antonio Bastardo.Niese will work out of the bullpen at first but also gives the Mets an experienced starter who could fill in for a rotation missing injured Matt Harvey and rehabbing Zack Wheeler.The moves follow last years trade-deadline acquisition of Cespedes, whose offensive spark helped the Mets reach the World Series for the first time since 2000.Before getting Cespedes from Detroit for pitcher Michael Fulmer, the Mets nearly finalized a deal with Cincinnati for Bruce. When talks fell through, New York soon turned its attention to Cespedes.Look, it was an extraordinary turnaround last year. All we can do is try to acquire as many good players as we can to put ourselves in a position to maybe have that magic again, Alderson said. I do think, given our situation right now and the quality of players we have right now otherwise in the clubhouse, somebody like Jay Bruce can be a catalyst for more productive performance out of the other players that we have, especially sitting in the middle of our order.The banged-up Mets began the day with a .237 batting average, lowest in the majors. They lost to the Yankees 6-5 in 10 innings Monday night and dropped to 54-51, leaving them 7 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Washington and 2 1/2 games back for the leagues second wild card.Bruce has been a clutch hitter this season, and New York is in dire need of one. Dreadful with runners in scoring position, the Mets started the day ranked 13th out of 15 NL teams in runs.I think hell make a big impact, manager Terry Collins said.Bruces dangerous left-handed bat should slot in nicely behind Cespedes -- when the right-handed slugger is healthy enough to play. Hampered by a strained right quadriceps thats been nagging him for weeks, Cespedes sat out Monday night for the second consecutive game.Bruce joins a crowded outfield that includes two other left-handed hitters in Curtis Granderson and Michael Conforto. Alderson acknowledged that Bruce is not an absolute perfect fit for us.We start with the need for offense and work from there, the GM said. I think his presence in the middle of our lineup will change things.Bruce, however, is under team control next season and thus provides another type of protection for Cespedes, because the Cuban star can opt out of his contract and become a free agent again after this years World Series.We would not have done the deal without the extra year of control, Alderson said. We were not looking for a rental player, certainly not looking to give up the kind of talent we did for the next two months.Bruce homered in five straight games in late July, a career best. A downside has been his career-long penchant for following a torrid streak with an incredibly cold one.Bruce has a .249 career average with 233 homers in nine major league seasons. He is earning $12.5 million this year, and his contract includes a $13 million team option for 2017 with a $1 million buyout.It definitely shows that theyre doing everything they can to help us, Mets second baseman Neil Walker said.New York clinched the NL East title in Cincinnati last September and returns for a three-game series from Sept. 5-7.Cincinnati is into its second year of rebuilding, trading any high-priced veteran it can. The Reds dealt starters Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake, third baseman Todd Frazier and closer Aroldis Chapman in the past year.They tried to trade second baseman Brandon Phillips to the Nationals, but he blocked the deal. They also had the framework of a three-team deal in place that wouldve sent Bruce to Toronto in the offseason, but that fell through.Herrera, 22, was once regarded as the Mets future second baseman. He made his major league debut in 2014 and hit .215 over 49 big league games in the `14 and `15 seasons. He was batting .276 with 13 homers and 55 RBI this year at Triple-A Las Vegas.We liked Dilson very much, Alderson said. Its not that our estimation of Dilson has gone down; we realize we have some other options and seem to be well-covered there.Traded from the Mets to Pittsburgh last December for Walker, Niese struggled during his time with the Pirates. He went 8-6 with a 4.91 ERA and was moved to the bullpen earlier this month.The 29-year-old Niese is making $9 million in the final season of a deal he signed with the Mets in March 2012, a contract that includes a $10 million team option for 2017 with a $500,000 buyout. He made some critical comments about New Yorks defense after joining the Pirates.I think there will be some things that will be addressed, Collins said. Theres still some guys that are still here that were here last year.Bastardo, who went 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA in 2015 with Pittsburgh, posted a 4.74 ERA in 41 appearances for the Mets. The left-hander agreed to a $12 million, two-year deal with New York in January and is owed $6.5 million in 2017.---AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.Anthony Miller Youth Jersey . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. Roquan Smith Jersey . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. https://www.bearssportsgoods.com/Womens-Brian-Urlacher-Inverted-Jersey/ . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Roquan Smith Youth Jersey . The giant slalom world champion slipped during her first run in the morning, landing on her back and then twisting forward before getting her leg caught in the protective material on the side of the slope. Tarik Cohen Womens Jersey . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville.YPSILANTI, Mich. -- After only seven wins in four years, it seemed the outlook couldnt be much worse for the Eastern Michigan football team.Then came April, when a student and faculty report called on the school to consider dropping the sport altogether -- or perhaps stop playing it at the Division I level.Well, the team is still playing -- and playing well. The Eagles have won four of their first five games for the programs best start since 1995, and players know well where things stood just a few short months ago.It just lights a fire under us, defensive lineman Jeremiah Harris said. It doesnt bother us. We just know that the haters are going to hate.Coach Chris Creightons team has won at home, on the road and even against last years Mid-American Conference champions, and the stage is set for the Eagles to play their homecoming game Saturday against Toledo.Theres definitely a buzz, Creighton said. You get more emails, you get more texts and people are excited.EMU hasnt gone to a bowl since 1987. The Eagles came close in 2011 under Ron English, when they snapped a streak of 15 straight losing seasons by going 6-6, but two of their wins were against FCS teams, so they didnt have enough to become bowl eligible.The program declined again immediately after that, and the April report raised concerns about athletic spending at the school, citing a USA Today database that said 80 percent of EMUs athletic budget was subsidized by the rest of the university in 2015. The figure underscores the financial challenges of playing football in Division I without access to the type of revenue generated by schools like Alabama and Michigan -- and its an issue EMU athletic director Heather Lyke does not take lightly.Our goal is definitely to try to continue to increase revenue so we can become less dependent, said Lyke, who took over the athletic department in 2013. Were never not going to be dependent. I dont know if its 90 percent of the schools in the country are dependent on some level of general support, but I think when you look at the television exposure that our team has had -- playing on national television five times this year, compared to none when I first got here -- when were on an ESPN platform, were in 99 million homes, and that is good for the university.EMU responded quickly to the student and faculty report, releasing an open letter saying the school had no plans to drop football or leave the MAC. Lyke played softball at Michigan and worked for over a decade in the athhletic department at Ohio State, so shes experienced Division I sports at both ends of the financial spectrum.dddddddddddd She says its important for a school like Eastern Michigan to be realistic about who it is measuring itself against -- and that the Eagles can certainly be competitive within the MAC.Still, it can be hard for EMUs football team to find a niche if it isnt winning, especially since the Eagles play about six miles from Michigan Stadium, where over 110,000 fans regularly show up to watch the Wolverines.A couple years ago, when it was time to replace the turf at EMUs home stadium, the school changed the color of the field to gray, trying to create sort of a Midwestern version of what Boise State has done.To connect with this part of the country, southeast Michigan, where its blue collar, Lyke said. The student-athletes love it. Theyll say, `Gray is the new black.This is Creightons third season at the helm, and it began with a 61-14 victory over Mississippi Valley State, the teams highest scoring output since 2004. After a blowout loss at Missouri, the Eagles won at Charlotte and then returned home to play Wyoming in a game televised by CBS Sports Network.In the week leading up to that game, racist graffiti was found on an EMU building, and after the Eagles beat Wyoming, protesters marched on the field . Creighton said his team had met the night before to discuss what was happening on campus and around the country, and he was happy with the dialogue.It was pretty intense, but it was really good, Creighton said. It was a rich discussion, and some people from really kind of opposing viewpoints, but we were still unified. So it was pretty neat.Last weekend, EMU played at Bowling Green, the defending conference champion. The Eagles held on for a 28-25 win, earning their first 4-1 start in 21 years.Now Eastern Michigan will host a high-scoring Toledo team that is favored to beat the Eagles by over two touchdowns, but no matter what happens this weekend, EMU has a start it can build on. Creighton says he wants the program to succeed on the field and off, citing the fact that his team led the MAC in grade-point average the last two seasons.Its not just to win games, Creighton said. I want our program to become a source of pride for this campus and for Ypsilanti and for this region.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '